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Renovating

If the silk is very dirty, spread each breadth on a large table, and sponge it upon both sides with warm water mixed with ox gall.-Rinse the silk sevupon both sides with warm water mixed with ox gall. - Rinse the silk several times in clear cold water, changing the water each time. Then sponge it upon the wrong side with a very weak solution of glue. Try the experiment first on a scrap of the goods till you find it as stiff as new silk should be. Dry the silk, and then roll it up in a damp towel and after two or three hours iron it upon the wrong side with a moderately hot iron.

Black, and some dark shades of cashmere, may be cleaned by the same process.

Where a black silk has a shiny, greasy look, its freshness can frequently be restored by sponging it with ammonia without ripping up the dress. Where a silk of any color becomes more defaced with spots than actually soiled, the spots can be removed by rubbing them with a mixture made by putting half an ounce of camphor and an ounce of borax in boiling water, and adding to it when cool a teacup of alcohol and half that quantity of ammonia.

A favorite way of cleaning and restoring silk, is by sponging it with a preparation made by boiling a large, unpeeled potato and a kid glove together for a long time. The glove should of the color of the silk, and if the shade is very light, the potato must have the skin removed before boiling. After the mixture is cool add a small quantity of ammonia if the silk is very dirty.

No glue or gum will be needed, as the glove furnishes the proper degree of stiffening. After sponging and wiping, with a dry cloth, fold the silk in as nearly as possible the form of new silk, or roll it upon a rod covered with thick cloth. Avoid ironing it if possible, as the texture of the silk is better preserved without the application of heat; but if the wrinkles do not disappear, press it on the wrong side with as cool an iron as can be efficiently used. The glove and potato treatment is excellent for restoring black of all kinds, even veils and shawls.

Another way of cleaning black silk is first to thoroughly brush and wipe with a cloth, then lay flat on a board or table and sponge well with hot coffee thoroughly freed from sediment by being strained through muslin. Sponge on the side intended to show, allow to become partially dry and then iron on the wrong side. The coffee removes every particle of grease and restores the brilliancy of silk without imparting to it either the shiny appearance or crackly and papery stiffness obtained by beer or, indeed, any other liquid .

The silk really appears thickened by the process, and this good effect is permanent. The following method of cleaning silks has many advocates, and is said to be admirably adapted for delicate evening shades: To a quarter of a pound of soft soap put a teaspoonful of sugar and a large coffeecupful of alcohol. Wet the silk all over with the mixture, then rinse it in several waters, being careful not to crease it. Let it dry partially, and iron it upon the wrong side, unless it is smooth enough after rubbing with a soft towel. There is a great difference in silks in this respect. Some that are very soft and of rich quality will be smooth and unwrinkled after cleaning, if simply smoothed with the hands and carefully folded; others need thorough pressing with an iron to put them in good shape. Heat takes the stiffening from silk, and, if it is found necessary to iron it, it is well to dry it and then dampen with water in which a little gum or glue has been dissolved. The wisest way, as suggested above, is, in any of the methods given to try the whole process upon a small piece of the silk to be cleaned .

Observation will then indicate if any change is needed in the operation. All of these receipts have been tried with very good results; but to get a good result in cleaning silk takes time, patience and backache. If silk, after having been done over, or refinished, as it is called, looks well enough to make up again as a dress, it is very important that new linings should be used. Save the old ones to line every-day dresses, but be sure to buy new waist and sleeve linings for the silk, or it will fall into the creases and folds that wearing has produced in the muslin, and have an old expression in spite of all the trouble that it has cost. If the silk is to be cut up for trimmings it will pay to line them. Bias frills and sideplaited ruffles can be lined with coarse Swiss and folds and bias bands interlined with old thin muslin which has been nicely starched and ironed. Attention to these small details will do much toward giving a new look to the material.

Grease spots in any goods should be taken off as soon as they appear, as they yield to treatment much more readily before dirt finds a lodgment in them. Benzine is one of the best agencies in use for removing grease from woolen dresses. Some people consider it best to wet the spot first with cold water, and apply the benzine within the circumference of the watermark, asserting that even upon colored silk fabrics no trace of the benzine will be left after exposure to the air.

Taking out spots which have destroyed or impaired the original color is a difficult matter and one that will need experimenting upon in each case.

Sometimes a mixture of camphor and borax is efficacious, and in others strong beer is a beneficial application. If acids have caused the trouble, a weak solution of ammonia will often have a good effect. Sometimes an application of liquid blacking upon the faded or discolored spot mends the matter, but that succeeds best on material that has a nap or rough surface. A solution made by boiling logwood chips in a little water is said to be very good for restoring the color of black cashmere and the other smooth good for restoring the color of black cashmere and the other smooth woolen goods. It should be applied to the spot with a sponge, and the operation should be repeated several times, drying the goods after each application, and finally pressing it with a warm iron.

Men have been heard to say that women never brush their dresses. However untrue that sweeping assertion may be, it is certain that too little atuntrue that sweeping assertion may be, it is certain that too little attention is paid to freeing dresses from the dust of the house and soil of the street . It is an excellent plan, upon taking off a dress, to brush it carefully all over with a small (not too stiff) wisp broom, giving particular care to all trimmings where plaits or gathers make lodgments for the dust.

If there is much upon the dress, rub it off with a coarse towel or a wad of worsted goods. An excellent brush for cleaning woolen or silk dresses can be made by covering a square block of wood with furniture plush. Ladies who are in mourning suffer much inconvenience from the injury caused by drops of water falling upon their crape, for each drop makes a by drops of water falling upon their crape, for each drop makes a conspicuous white mark. If, while wet, these are clapped between the hands until dry, no spots will appear. If the crape has dried without their removal, lay it upon a table and put under spots a piece of old black silk; dip a camel's hair pencil in black ink and paint the spots lightly; then wipe them off with old soft silk, and the color will be restored.

Partly worn fabrics may often be profitably renewed by calling in the dyer's art. Some people have excellent success in using family dyes, and art.

Some people have excellent success in using family dyes, and for them it will be an object to color many useful things, for which it would not be worth while to pay a professional dyer's charge. Ribbons, neckties, trimmings and many small things which need patience and careful manipulation can be colored beautifully at home. Stockings, linings, and odds and ends that might not otherwise be used, can also be advantageously subjected to the amateur process, but for material that is to be remade into dresses it would be wisdom to employ the best professional skill. Some things , such as merinos and cashmere, are worth dyeing at almost any price, and will look like new when they are done. Silk dyes well for some purposes, but will never look like new after the process, even if the dyer promises that it will; hence it is a mistake to use it conspicuously after dyeing . It can be used as the basis of a costume, where the lines are broken by drapery, etc., or it will cut up admirably for trimmings, but large surfaces of it should be avoided, as giving opportunity for the eye to catch sundry symptoms, such as streaks and a general limpness, which at once reveal the secret.

Irish poplins dye well, but have the one objection of shrinking lamentably. This should be taken into consideration in purchasing one of light . This should be taken into consideration in purchasing one of light color, and an extra piece, sufficient for a new waist, should be included in the original quantity.

Velvets can be colored, but although the nap is beautifully raised when done by an expert, they lose much in appearance, and a velvet which cost by an expert, they lose much in appearance, and a velvet which cost ten dollars a yard will have the general expression of one which costs less than a quarter of that sum. The cost of dyeing velvet is very great, and with such a result to be expected as has just been explained, it would be much better to buy good new cotton-back, silk-faced velvet.

Nearly all wool materials, unless too loosely woven, color well, but mixtures of cotton and wool will not pay for the cost of dyeing. Japanese of cotton and wool will not pay for the cost of dyeing. Japanese silks and silk-faced matelasses do not dye satis factorily.

White woolen goods will not, as people seem to think, take every color; on the contrary, there are but few shades that they will become. Light the contrary, there are but few shades that they will become. Light and Mexicanblue, nut-brown, slate, stone color, lavender, jacqueminot. scarlet, rose and several of the very dark new shades are those which can be most certainly obtained. The reason for this limitation is because the sulphur with which the wool is whitened in the manufacture prevents most colors from taking hold evenly, to use a technical expression.

Alpaca is an exception to most fabrics composed of two materials. It dyes well and does not shrink very much, In most materials slate color will dye black, brown, claret, green, purple and dark blue.

Light blue will dye medium and navy-blue, purple, crimson, green, prune, claret and black.

Claret will dye brown, black, crimson and bottle green. Brown will dye darker brown, claret, black and green. Amber will dye green, scarlet, crimson, black and brown. Crimson will dye black, brown, claret and dark green. A lighter shade of crimson will dye black, brown, claret, dark green, blue, and a darker self-shade.

Drab will dye scarlet, crimson, green-both light and dark-purple, dark blue, and claret.

Light green will dye claret, brown, black and crimson. Dark green will dye brown, black and claret.

Lavender will dye brown, black, garnet, dark blue, green, plum and prune.

Mauve will dye dark blue, black, claret, crimson, green and purple. Navy-blue will dye brown, green, claret and black.

Magenta will dye purple, scarlet, crimson, azuline and navy-blues, black, browns and claret.

Purple will dye black, dark crimson, claret and dark green. Pink will dye blue in most shades, all the reddish tones of color, medium and dark blues, black and most of the dark colors, including greens. Scarlet will dye dark green and blue, black, brown, garnet and crimson Straw color will take almost any color except light blue, lavender and pink.

Slate will dye green, purple, plum, navy-blue, several shades of brown and black.

Black and all the dark colors, if grown rusty or faded, can be dyed again the original color. They may turn out a little darker, but unless the material has ugly spots which require more dye to conceal, the color will be nearly the same as when new.

Plaid goods, if thick and unmixed with cotton, will often take a plain color, which should be at least as dark as the darkest shade in the pattern. Black and white checks prove an exception to this; as, if skillfully done, they can be dyed scarlet or light blue, the white blocks taking the color and the black remaining black.

It is damaging to dresses and other garments to lie by in a faded and dirty state; therefore, if coloring them is in anticipation, it is best to prepare and send them to the dyers. After they are redressed they can be laid away till required, and will take no harm.

Velveteen will dye and look very well at first, but being all cotton its renewed good looks fade very quickly. For furniture or house decoration it might pay to have it done, but otherwise it is hardly to be advocated.